"The personal attention that I receive at HPU is unlike any other. Through small classes I have been able to establish life-long relationships with my professors. No matter if you're in a class with 25 students or a class with just 7 students, the professors ensure your success."

Students Spend ‘One Day Without Shoes’ in Honor of Children

Event organizer Ellen Barker carries a TOMS Shoes sign and leads the barefoot march down HPU’s International Promenade with Prowler, the HPU mascot.

HIGH POINT, N.C., April 17, 2013 – Anyone walking around High Point University’s campus Tuesday may have noticed something a little unusual – students not wearing any shoes. There was a good reason. Students were working to raise awareness for children who don’t have basic footwear by participating in the national TOMS Shoes event, “One Day Without Shoes.”

The event was held on the Slane outdoor basketball courts and included feet painting, Zumba dancing and fundraising events. It was followed by a barefoot march around campus.

Students paint their bare feet for the “One Day Without Shoes” event.

On the courts, participants could find shocking facts about the dangers that children who don’t have shoes face on daily basis:

• Podoconiosis – 4,000,000 people have podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring soil-based disease.

• Hookworm – 740,000,000 people are affected by hookworm, which can cause intestinal pain, weakness and cognitive impairment.

Pictured from left to right, are club member Jennifer Pascale, Prowler and Barker.

• Dangerous Debris – 30,000 people live on one landfill in the Philippines, where many are without shoes and are exposed to broken glass, syringes and debris.